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I said it last time, but it holds true again, today is the
most important day in the history of our footballing nation. Today we face off
against Belgium, it has been declared American Outlaws day in Pittsburgh, and most
importantly Jozy
Altidore has been declared fit and ready for action. That should be a huge
boost to the USA because we’ve looked sort of listless without the big man up
front. Playing with a true striker will give us some structure and we all know
that Jozy can provide those moments of brilliance that are so crucial at the
World Cup. Jurgen Klinsmann has spoken out against FIFA selecting an Algerian
match official for today’s game. I’m sure bias won’t have anything to do with
his refereeing decisions, but I do question them selecting an official that
doesn’t regularly officiate matches of this importance.
Either way, that match kicks off at 4PM today, so by 3:30 I
expect all of you to be standing with your fellow USA fans at whatever venue
you feel appropriate. The American Outlaws are hosting watch parties at the
Claddagh and Lattitude 40 for those of you in the Pittsburgh area. The
atmosphere will be spectacular and I
really can’t wait for this afternoon.
In yesterday’s matches, France ran out 2-0 winners over
Nigeria. Nigeria had a goal taken away in the first half for a dubious offside
call. I think that one could have gone either way, but the referee blew the
whistle and Nigeria were unable to mount much of an attack following that.
After a scoreless first half, the second half began with Blaise Matuidi earning
a yellow card for an ugly challenge on Ogenyi Onazi. The challenge broke both
the tibia and fibula of Onazi and probably could have earned a red card for
Matuidi, but he escaped dismissal. Vincent Enyeama was an absolute monster in this
match, he played spectacularly, and unfortunately his performance wasn’t
enough. He batted a ball away from his goal, but it fell onto the head of Paul
Pogba who smashed it home. In the closing moments of stoppage time, a French
corner kick was taken short and a cross sent into the box, which Joseph Yobo
sent into his own goal for the match’s final goal. It was a heartbreaking and
legbreaking way for Nigeria to crash out of the tournament, and I think that
Enyeama’s performance deserved better.
In yesterday’s second match, Germany required extra time to
break a scoreless deadlock with Algeria. The match ended 2-1 with all the goals
coming in the extra periods. Manuel Neuer was doing his best sweeper keeper
routine throughout the match and displayed his considerable skills to the
world. It only took two minutes into the first extra period for Andre Schurrle
to break the scoreless deadlock, Schurrle flicked in a perfect Thomas Muller
cross with his left foot. In the 120th minute, Mesut Ozil scored his
first goal of the tournament, by pouncing on an Andre Schurrle rebound and
smashing it home. Algerian keeper Rais M’Bolhi really deserved better after
making 10 saves in the match, earning MOTM honors. One minute later Algeria
managed to scrape back a goal thanks to Abdelmoumene Djabou who hit home a
spectacular cross from Sofiane Feghoul to make things respectable for Algeria.
Trivia segment:
Before we get to our results from the weekend and upcoming
matches for tonight, here’s a new trivia segment sponsored by Ruffneck Scarves
and Who Are Ya Designs. They make a tons of great shirts and scarves and sent
me their #Murica shirt, so you should check them out at www.ruffneckscarves.com orwww.whoareyadesigns.com . That brings us to our trivia question for the
day which is: Who is the most capped player in USMNT history? If you think you
know the answer, Tweet me @IamSchaffer, respond on the Full Time Football
Facebook Page, or comment on the blog. We’ll select the winner from the correct
responses and send them a gift card so they can pick up some new gear. If you
don’t know the answer, still go to ruffneckscarves.com or whoareyadesigns.com and buy a shirt for yourself or the football
fan in your life.
Scores from
the weekend:
In MLS
action:
Chris Barrett’s first half strike was all that Seattle needed
to beat DC United. They ran out 1-0 winners in their return to MLS action.
The Phialdelphia Union defeated the New England Revolution
3-1. Sebastien Le Toux opened scoring for the Union just before the halftime
break. They went up 2-0 thanks to a Danny Cruz goal that was assisted by
Michael Lahoud. The Revs then managed to peg one back thanks to Saer Sene, but
Philly put things out of reach with Sebastien Le Toux earning his brace.
The Columbus Crew and FC Dallas played to a scoreless draw on
Sunday after the match was postponed on Saturday after lighting struck an off
duty firefighter in the parking lot.
The Montreal Impact ran out 3-0 winners over the Houston
Dynamo. Jack McInerny had two goals in this match with Marco Di Vaio adding the
third.
Gyasi Zardes scored the only goal of the game for the LA
Galaxy during their clash with the San Jose Earthquakes.
Erick Cubo Torres scored in Chivas USA’s win over Real Salt
Lake. Despite the win they remain in last place.
The Colorado Rapids were 2-0 winners over the Vancouver
Whitecaps thanks to goals from Dillon Powers and Vicente Sanchez.
Moving on to
NWSL action from the weekend:
Carli Lloyd scored both goals for the Western New York Flash
in their 2-1 win over the Boston Breakers. Ezurike Nkemjika earned the Breakers’
goal in that match.
Lauren Holliday scored the match’s only goal for FC Kansas
City in their win over Portland Thorns FC.
The Washington Spirit defeated the Houston Dash 1-0 thanks to
a goal from Jodie Taylor.
In the final NWSL match from the weekend the Seattle Reign
and Sky Blue FC played to a scoreless draw.
Headlines for today:
Adam
Lallana has completed his move to Liverpool. He says his wish has been
granted to compete in the Champion’s League and for Premier League titles.
Orlando City
has completed their move for Ricardo Kaka. He becomes the second Ballon D’Or
winner to play in MLS.
Germany
defender Shkodran Mustafi will miss the rest of the World Cup after he
picked up a muscle tear in his left thigh.
The
Cameroon FA has launched an investigation of seven players in match fixing
allegations that were made by notable convicted match fixer Wilson Raj Perumal.
The match in question is their 4-0 defeat against Croatia, where Alex Song was
sent off for elbowing Mario Mandzukic. Betting industry sources have not
reported any irregular betting on this match or any other World Cup match.
Luis Suarez issued an apology to Georgio Chiellini and the
world football community and Chiellini has said that all is forgotten.
Coming up at noon we’ve got Argentina taking on Switzerland
followed by that monumental clash between Belgium and our brave United States
Men’s National Team.
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